yoga, meditation, and inner life
What are the eight limbs of yoga?
Where they come from
The eight limbs come from the classical yoga tradition, set out by the sage Patanjali. The Sanskrit word for this system is ashtanga, which simply means eight limbs. The idea is that yoga is far more than physical exercise. It is a full path of inner and outer life. The limbs build on each other, starting from how you live with others and ending in a still, open state of awareness.
The eight limbs, one by one
The first limb is yama, the way you treat others. It covers honesty, non-harm, not taking what is not yours, and similar principles. The second is niyama, how you take care of yourself, including cleanliness, contentment, and self-study. The third is asana, the physical postures most people know as yoga today. In the classical tradition these were meant to make the body steady and comfortable, especially for sitting in meditation. The fourth is pranayama, work with the breath, which is seen as the link between body and mind. The fifth is pratyahara, pulling the attention inward, away from the pull of the senses. These first five are sometimes called the outer limbs. The next three go deeper. The sixth is dharana, holding the mind on one point. The seventh is dhyana, a continuous, unbroken flow of attention, often translated as meditation. The eighth is samadhi, a state where the sense of a separate self falls quiet and awareness opens completely. The tradition sees this as the goal of the whole path.
How people use them today
In most yoga classes around the world, asana gets almost all the attention. Many teachers and practitioners also bring in pranayama and some inner work. The full eight-limb path is followed more closely in certain traditions and ashrams. Some people come to the outer limbs through physical practice and gradually grow curious about the inner ones. Others approach them through study or meditation communities. How much of the path a person takes up varies widely, and the tradition does not insist on a single starting point.